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Daily Archives: November 12, 2008

The Big East made it official Wednesday morning, promoting John Marinatto as the successor to Commissioner Mike Tranghese, who will step down in June 2009. In his first public statements, Marinatto made it clear the conference remains committed to keeping the 16-team league intact, squashing the idea of a possible split between basketball- and football-playing schools.

“It’s a more or less a speculation on blogs and the internet but we as a conference don’t have those discussions whatsoever in terms of the conference splitting or not moving forward,” Marinatto said. “Having bonded through the process of rebuilding the conference over the course of the past five years we’ve actually come together in a stronger way than we’ve ever been and the unity that exists among our 16 presidents, among our 16 athletic directors, speaks well to our future.”

Several challenges will await Marinatto once he takes over, but here are the most pressing issues:

On the Big East’s new commissioner, in-house guy John Marinatto: I love this selection, my esteemed colleague Keith Sargeant hates it. My view is, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? The Big East is a well-oiled league, so if Mike Tranghese wants to pass the baton to his right-hand man, it’s fine with me.

On the fall signing period: Fred Hill got letters of intent from two recruits on Wednesday, 6-7 wing Dane Miller and 6-8 power forward Austin Johnson. We’ll provide the link later, but for now here are some fresh quotes from Hill:

“We’re adding two more great kids. They’re excited about building with us. We’ve added more depth and versatility.”

“In Dane we have a kid who can play one through four. He can really pass the basketball, has a great feel for game, loves getting the ball to his teammates.”

“In Austin you get a guy who’s 6-8, 220. He loves playing with his back to the basket. Great footwork, knows how to score in there, more of a prototypical power forward.”

“We’ve gotten two more guys who can really help us and are versatile.”

While next year’s incoming recruiting class currently only has one Florida native among the 19 commitments, Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano made it clear that Florida remains a part of his “State of Rutgers.”

“I think it’s very much a part of where we recruit,” said Schiano, whose 2009 incoming class, which won’t become official until Signing Day in February, includes Terrance Taylor, a defensive back from Miami.

Schiano added playfully, “The class isn’t over yet, either.”

Of Rutgers’ past recruiting class, four were Sunshine State products, including David Rowe, who starts as a true freshman in the Knights’ nickel package, and highly-touted quarterback D.C. Jefferson, who’s redshirting this fall.

In all, Rutgers has 16 players from Florida on its roster.

COMMENT ON THE COMMISH: Schiano offered an endorsement for the Big East’s selection of John Marinatto as the heir to commissioner Mike Tranghese.

“I’m excited for John,” Schiano said. “He’s done a great job in the eight years I’ve been here, and he’s been there a lot longer than that. I think it’s an exciting time.”

DEPENDABLE DEPAOLA: Though wideout is Rutgers’ deepest position, walk-on Andrew DePaola continues to see increased playing time. In addition to serving as Rutgers’ holder on field goals and extra points, DePaola has seen action at wideout in each of the past five games.

“The reason he plays so much is because he’s so productive,” Schiano said of the 6-2, 205 pounder, who’s yet to catch a pass while lining up at receiver the past five games. “There’s not more to it than that. Now why is he productive might be the better question.”

“I think he’s productive because he works his tail off,” Schiano added, answering his own question. “There’s more talented guys out there than he, but he just works hard and he’s effective so … I learned a long time ago, don’t wait around for potential. Play productivity.”

Whether Davis draws the matchup exclusively, however, is unclear since Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was non-committal when asked Wednesday if Selvie merits a double-team.

“You better know where he is,” Schiano said of South Florida’s 6-4, 295-pound junior right end. “He’s a disruptive force. You better have some different ways (to block) because he’s a smart player in addition to being a physically-gifted one.”

If Schiano gleans anything from how other teams block Selvie, chances are Rutgers will not only send multiple linemen at Selvie in the pass game, it’ll run to the right most of the time.

According to a stat released by South Florida, opposing offenses have run away from Selvie 80 percent of the time and have double- or triple-teamed the defending Big East Defensive Player of the Year 54 percent of the time on pass plays.

That hardly surprises Schiano.

“He’s one of the best in the country — if not the best passer rusher in the country,” Schiano said. “”So it’s a huge challenge. There are certain things you can do to try to help your guys but in the end you’ve still got to try to block him. We need to be very aware of where he is all the time.

“If you commit too much help to George, the other guys are good players as well. It’s probably going to be against Anthony (Davis) most of the time, but they’ll move him around, too.”

Rutgers senior Kia Vaughn will likely finish her women’s basketball career as the school’s all-time shot blocker, be No. 2 in rebounding and listed among the top 15 all-time scoring leaders in the program.

That’s not bad for someone who initially took to the game like a goldfish would take to a carpet.

A preseason All-America, the 6-foot-4 Vaughn will be front and center Friday (5 p.m.) as the Scarlet Knights open their season at home against Saint Joseph.

“If Kia just plays the way she did sophomore year, she’ll be uncontainable. She’s just a great athlete, with a passion for the game, never takes off plays; which is unusual. She never takes off plays. Never. She doesn’t take off plays in practice. I love ‘er,” Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. “Kia can be one of the top
three players in the country drafted. Because I think she deserves that.”

Vaughn’s sophomore she averaged career highs with 12.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 92 blocked shots and a shooting percentage of .557. She made first-team Big East, and made the all-tournament teams at the Greensboro Regional and Final Four.

“I think overall, basketball has taken me by surprise,” Vaughn said the other day. “”When I started in eighth grade, I met a great coach, in AAU, who actually took me in, became my family and became my Godfather, and introduced me to basketball — which I hated.”

The coach was Apache Paschall, still the coach at Saint Michael in Manhattan.

Prospects are able to sign letters of intent beginning Wednesday. Per a new rule last season, college football programs are able to accept National Letters of Intent (NLIs) during an early signing period for three days in December. These NLIs are a binding commitment between school and individual. In 2018, this period begins Wednesday December […]

The former Scarlet Knight rushed for over 100 yards for the third time in his past five games Gus Edwards has paved an unlikely path from undrafted free agent to making the practice squad to becoming the starting running back for the Baltimore Ravens, all since this past April. After having a productive final season […]